Freddie Mac crowns financial-reporting do-gooders

Servicer Hall of Fame has dubious proprietor Freddie Mac last week inducted eight loan servicers into its "2003 Tier One Hall of Fame." The tier designation is Freddie Mac's way of ranking its servicers on the basis of benchmarks that include "investor reporting and default management." Servicers that achieve a top Tier One rating for superior results for at least two quarters in a year get fee waivers, financial rewards, national recognition and other benefits. The "2003 Tier One Hall of Fame" inductees may be deserving of praise, but Freddie Mac is hardly in a position to evaluate other corporations on the basis of their investor reporting. The mortgage giant promised to file periodic financial reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission some time ago, but has yet to do so due to its own internal accounting problems. –Marcie Geffner How many lawyers are at the bottom of the bay? Not enough. The latest liability scare at open houses is people taking off their shoes...